


Smother the Flames

by MageOfCole



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: (It's not the focus), Alpha-17 centric, Angst, Clone Troopers Deserve Better, Drabble, Established Relationship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Introspection, Mind Control, Movie: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Open Ending, Order 66, Past Torture, Rare Pairings, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25361290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageOfCole/pseuds/MageOfCole
Summary: "Execute Order Sixty-Six." His vod'ika says, "By order of the Grand Chancellor, the traitors to the Republic are to be executed. Any trooper found to be in violation of the Order will be executed as well."Alpha-17 is on Kamino when the Order goes live
Relationships: Alpha 17 & CC-2224 | Cody, Alpha-17 & Cadets, Alpha-17 & Clone Troopers, Alpha-17/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 26
Kudos: 182





	Smother the Flames

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThirteenthMouse6572](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirteenthMouse6572/gifts), [thedisasternerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedisasternerd/gifts), [Forestgreengirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forestgreengirl/gifts).



Alpha-17 has a front row seat to the _wrongness_ that sweeps through the ranks of Vode on Kamino like a plague. He _knows_ these troopers, he's been around them their entire lives; a harsh guardian protecting them from trainers, scientists, and even each other. They love and hate him for it equally, because 17 protects them by making them too competent to justify getting rid of them; he's a demanding taskmaster, but they all know that the alternative is a sure death. He has a sharp eye for skill and talent, and he works his vod'ike into the ground to see that potential realized.

17 is running a batch of cadets brimming with said potential through their paces when his command comm beeps with an incoming message, and the alpha-class clone quickly signals for the five cadets to take a break as he moves to answer. It's coded as urgent, a priority command that ignoring could mean certain death or attack.

A flickering holo of Cody (Kote, Jango's glory, 17's pride and joy, Marshall Commander of the GAR - he's so fucking _proud_ of that boy, he's grown from the clumsy little cadet he was into a terror on the battlefield) - springs to life. Distorted and thin from distance, the scar curling around his eye is still a distinctive visual marker on his vod'ika's face.

Nonetheless, 17 can't shake the gnawing feeling that something is _wrong_.

And then Cody's mouth opens and the voice that leaves his lips isn't his Kot'ika. It's mechanical and cold - Cody's always been reserved, _shy_ even, but he's never been cold; 17's boy is a contained explosion, bright and filled with fire, and while the war and constant loss may have dimmed that flame, it hasn't smothered it.

And yet -

"Execute Order Sixty-Six." His vod'ika says, "By order of the Grand Chancellor, the traitors to the Republic are to be executed. Any trooper found to be in violation of the Order will be executed as well."

At this point, the cadets, who Alpha-17 has been studiously ignoring as they try to hide the fact that they're eavesdropping, go unnaturally still, and 17 shakes his head, trying to get rid of the muffled ringing in his ears and the fog that's trying to creep over his mind. He's barely aware of the comm disconnecting, too busy fighting off the numbness of his limbs and the dark visions in his mind.

Whatever _this_ is, it's trying to control him, like it's probably already controlling Kote, but Alpha-17 strengthens his shields and tries to center himself on a feeling, a memory; he thinks of his Vode, of their big eyes and hopeful voices, their strength and softness and everything that makes them individuals despite their identical bodies.

17 _refuses_. He refuses to lose agency over his body again, he's killed longnecks and trainers for this very same reason; he won't be controlled, he will _not_ let himself be chained again. Not for the Kaminoans, not for Ventress, and not for whatever is happening inside his mind now. He's a _person_ ; he's fought too hard to be anything else, he has too much to lose.

He remembers the dark fog that Ventress had forced into his head, the sharp pain that followed as the dar'jetii tried to rip his mind apart. He remembers the haunted blue eyes set into a gaunt face as Alpha-17 begs his Jetii to teach him to shield his mind so that he never has to feel that again.

**_Good soldiers follow orders-_ **

**_Kill the Jedi-_ **

**_Good soldiers-_ **

Alpha-17 has never been a good soldier, never taken easily to orders, not like his vod'ika. He's too independent, too angry, too willing to rip apart his enemies with his bare hands - and his enemies have never just been limited to clankers. Enemies are those that surround him, the Kaminoans and the trainers and anyone who would hurt his Vode; enemies are the Republic too, the ones that send his vod'ike off into battles that they know they'll never walk away from. Enemies are the ones who put shadows into Kote's eyes or carved wounds into Wolffe's soul, they're the ones who stole Bly's sweetness and Ponds' life, the ones who have stomped out Fox's spirit until the boy he raised and trained was just a husk of the man he was, the ones who left Rex broken and sobbing when he thought no one was around.

**_Kill the traitors-_ **

Alpha-17 is a traitor to the Republic, he always has been - since the first time he looked at his vod'ike's little faces and decided to protect them, to fight tooth and nail to see those children thrive. He's been a traitor from the moment he chose to put his desires over the needs of the Republic.

He thinks about gentle hands cradling his face, rough with calluses from years of wielding his lightsaber but so soft despite them. He remembers the soft voice coaching him through breathing past his nightmares and the dark thoughts in his mind.

Alpha-17 _breathes_ . He breathes and pushes away the voice trying to drown out the phantom memory of his Jetii's smooth voice and the feeling of his fingers in his hair. He thinks about the ghostly feeling of chapped lips pressing against his own, the feeling of another person giving everything that they are to him, trusting him and loving him. He couldn't have him, not to keep, not when they both had their responsibilities - 17 to his Vode and his Jetii to his Code - but they took what moments they could. It would have ruined both of them if it had gotten out, but they kept themselves together with the promise of _some day..._

He won't be killing _anyone_ for the Republic today.

Behind him, blasters rise.


End file.
